Calcining of gypsum comprises converting calcium sulfate dihydrate by heating it into calcium sulfate hemihydrate, better known as stucco. Prior calcining apparatus and methods have taken various forms. Traditionally, the calcining of gypsum has occurred in a large kettle, having a thickened dome-shaped bottom, against which a gas-fired flame is directed, with the kettle and burner flame being enclosed in a suitable refractory structure. There is usually an associated hot pit into which the calcined material is fed. The kettle must withstand temperatures in the 2,000°–2,400° F. range, hence requiring expensive fire box steel plate on its domed bottom, which was typically 1¾ inches thick. U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,509 typifies this type construction. This approach had numerous disadvantages, such as the extreme waste of hot burner gases, and the associated refractory brick enclosure which, when repairs or kettle shut-down were needed, first required a lengthy cool-down period.
Other calcining kettles, of the general type described above, have included supplemental submerged combustion designs where exhaust gases from the gas-fired burners were discharged directly into the kettle contents. Here, the gas flame directly impinged against the material being calcined, and there was an increased possibility of creating so-called “dead burn” material, i.e., insoluble anhydrite. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,176,157 and 4,238,238 typify that type approach. Additionally, other prior art calcining kettles, of the general type described above, included a series of cross burner tubes which passed generally horizontally completely through the kettle, allowing the hot gases within the refractory structure and surrounding the kettle to be supplementally directed through the tubes, and thus, through the kettle contents to further heat the same. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,307,915 and 4,163,390 typify this type kettle construction. There have also been horizontally-aligned, rotary calcining structures; U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,829 typifies this type approach.
Besides the above kettle constructions which normally require expensive refractory structure, there have also been refractoryless kettles using the submerged combustion principle, including those having auxiliary draft tube structure encompassing the main burner tube, so as to reduce formation of dead-burned insoluble anhydrite. U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,199 typifies this type construction. Additionally, there are so-called refractoryless conical kettles with various types of submerged combustion heating systems, again with the attendant risk of creating non-uniform stucco and dead burn material. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,629,419 and 4,744,961 typify such conical kettle constructions. More recent calcining kettle modifications have included so-called “boost” burner constructions, including electrical boost calrods, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,963, and gas-fired boost burner designs, both added as supplemental heaters to traditional refractory-type kettle constructions.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,743,954 and 5,927,968 disclose a method and apparatus for the continuous calcining of gypsum material in a refractoryless kettle preferably heated by a multiple series of separate immersion tube coils, each coil operating within a specific calcining zone inside the kettle.